In case you missed our feature on collaborative groups in the March issue, here it is again.
Car Craft Group
Size: 135
Business type: Unlisted public company.
Employees 1750
Car Craft Group has experienced significant national growth in its network over the last year adding 12 businesses around the country.
CEO Peter McMahon says: “I think what’s happened is after a long period of time building the brand and explaining what we do and what we’re about, people are starting to sit up and take notice as to the size of the organisation and what it offers.
So, instead of us trying to explain to people what or who we are, they know now. Our online presence has grown tremendously since engaging DigiTLC to look after it, so you’d be pretty hard-pressed not to know that we’re around.
“It’s okay for a handful of guys around the country to be standalone repairers, and they might have the volume and the arrangements, but predominantly you need to be part of something.
“The industry understands that we want people in our group that are good repairers, good business people, who want to learn more and want to be able to talk to their peers.
“It’s not all about discounts and whether we do a great deal with the supplier, it is about the whole picture. On top of that, we now have insurers calling us because there is a trust value that the guy who owns the store and runs the store, has a reputation to maintain. Car Craft has a reputation for getting things done. If there’s an issue, there’s one person to contact and we sort it out. That’s for both the repairer and the insurer.
“We’re here to make money, the insurers are here to get a product produced and returned to their client and everyone’s happy.
“2022 was a massive year for us as far as people reaching out to us on both sides of the market – the supply and also business owners – wanted to be part of the group. Everything we do; it’s a partnership. You’re not a supplier or a preferred supplier, you’re a business partner. The market now understands this.
“For example with our exclusive paint system Octoral, it’s a genuine partnership of building our business and their business and Octoral. We’ve started out in 2016 with six guys who took it on to 45 shops across the country. And there are more people interested because it’s a great product and they save so much money. We have Car Craft Quantum Performance benchmarking program which is attached to Octoral.
“Our brand, is also associated with Ezi-Methods and that’s just gone through the roof. We also have an accident management platform. There’s a trust value in everything we do.”
Your local tribe
There are regular ‘Sundowners’ and networking events both nationally and for state members. Repairers and suppliers meet regularly to chew the fat for a couple of hours.
“The bigger you grow the more you need to then resource and also service your group. Rapid expansion is great but if you’re not on top of what you need to do to match it, then you’re going to burn your brand,” says McMahon.
“We have a massive number of owner benefits. For instance we have a partnership with Officeworks, with digital marketing experts DigiTLC and partner with MaxMyProfit business coaching. There are some financial institution benefits as well. We have a very close relationship with the team at Compass, which is a benefit to everyone.
“We also have our own Work Health Safety app powered by MONIT called CC Safety. We’ve also just finished our first ever Apprentice of the Year program, the business within Car Craft are very focussed on the next generation of technicians.
“2023 and onwards we continue to implement the national strategy to capitalise and take advantage of the results out of 2022, to build on the relationships we’ve already established and set up more partnerships with insurance companies.
“We’re in every state of Australia now, and Territory. People are ringing us, we’re not knocking on doors as often, and that comes from establishing a reputation for doing what we say effectively. And then explaining to people that become part of the group is, it’s not a franchise - and those have their place – it is a private public company where you are the shareholder of it.
“You join, we give you a share certificate and the longer you stay in, the bigger the share builds up. The more you follow the system the greater the income to the group and then the greater returns to you as an owner. So what you put in is what you get out, and I think that’s the difference of our group to many others.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re the biggest repairer in our group or the smallest, you get the same voice. Everyone gets one vote.
“The group currently turns over $450 million a year and employs up to 1,750 people across the country. It’s got that big that quickly,” McMahon says.